Deaf Smith County, Texas
Deaf Smith County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,372. The county seat is Hereford, which is known as the "Beef Capital of the World". The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1890. The Hereford, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Deaf Smith County. History In 1876 the state legislature defined and named the county, but it was not organized until 1890, with the town of LaPlata as the original county seat. The county was named for Erastus "Deaf" Smith (1787–1837), a partially deaf scout and soldier who served in the Texas Revolution and was the first to reach the Alamo after its fall. The pronunciation of "Deaf", like that of Smith himself, is ; however most residents pronounce it . This county was also selected as an alternate site for a possible nuclear waste disposal repository but was later dropped. Jesse Frank Ford, founder of Arrowhead Mills, led the opposition to the Deaf Smith site on grounds of contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer, the source of much of the water supply for West Texas. Image:Deaf Smith in museum in Hereford IMG 4856.JPG|Erastus "Deaf" Smith as he appears at the Deaf Smith County Museum Image:Deaf Smith County Museum IMG 4854.JPG|The Deaf Smith County Historical Museum in Hereford Image:Deaf Smith County Library, Hereford, TX IMG 4892.JPG|The Deaf Smith County Library formerly housed the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame on the ground floor. The museum is now located in a new building in the Historic District of Fort Worth, Texas. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water. Major highways * Interstate 40 * U.S. Highway 60 * U.S. Highway 385 * State Highway 214 Adjacent counties *Oldham County (north) *Randall County (east) *Castro County (southeast) *Parmer County (south) *Curry County, New Mexico (southwest) *Quay County, New Mexico (west) Demographics |align-fn=center |footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010–2014 }} As of the census of 2000, there were 18,561 people, 6,180 households, and 4,832 families residing in the county. The population density was 12 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 6,914 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 72.28% White, 1.51% Black or African American, 0.80% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 22.92% from other races, and 2.11% from two or more races. 57.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 6,180 households out of which 41.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.00% were married couples living together, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.80% were non-families. 19.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.41. In the county, the population was spread out with 33.30% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 25.50% from 25 to 44, 19.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,601, and the median income for a family was $32,391. Males had a median income of $26,090 versus $19,113 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,119. About 19.30% of families and 20.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.30% of those under age 18 and 15.70% of those age 65 or over. Infrastructure The headquarters of the Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative are located in Hereford. The cooperative provides electricity for Deaf Smith County as well as Castro, Parmer and Oldham Counties.Spotlight on CRC Member: Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative. Cooperative Response Center. Communities City *Hereford (county seat) Unincorporated communities *Dawn *Glenrio (partly in Quay County, New Mexico) Politics See also *Clint Formby *List of museums in the Texas Panhandle *Margaret Clark Formby *Marshall Formby *National Register of Historic Places listings in Deaf Smith County, Texas References External links *Deaf Smith County government website *[http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-16011 A History of Deaf Smith County, featuring Pioneer Families], published 1964 by Bessie Smith, hosted by the Portal to Texas History *[http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-16010 The Land and Its People, 1876-1981: Deaf Smith County Texas], published 1982 by the Deaf Smith County Historical society, hosted by the Portal to Texas History *Historic photographs from the Deaf Smith County Library hosted by the Portal to Texas History *[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcd04 Deaf Smith County in Handbook of Texas Online] at the University of Texas *Deaf Smith County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties Category:Deaf Smith County, Texas Category:1890 establishments in Texas Category:Settlements established in 1890 Category:Texas Panhandle